*** Very creative 6800GT cooling mods ***

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

cornelious0_0

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Apr 6, 2003
Messages
12,783
First off, I'd just like to say that I am very pleased with my new Inno3d 6800GT I picked up locally a couple days ago. Upon close inspection of the card (while I was taking it apart to add AS5) I realised that the stock cooler is leaving a LOT to be desired. What I found myself looking at was an aluminum heatsink no more then 15-20mm high covering up the core.....and that single "strip" of black aluminum in contact with the ram, with a heatpipe running along it. I am actually very surprised after seeing this that I am able to take this card up to Ultra clock speeds and still BARELY break 70C under load. I am certain that my overclock is not being limited by hardware capabilities ATM, because if I do the overclocking right off of boot (instead of when the GPU is under load) I can get it MUCH higher.....about an extra 20-30MHz on the core actually. Obviously though, as soon as the card hits the 60C mark it starts to get flaky, and that "idle overclock" doesnt hold up for very long. What I am proposing here is a couple fairly creative cooling mods for my new GT that I'm hoping will really help the card shine, and help me attain a more attractive overclock.

** First, obviously the entire stock cooler will be removed from the card.

** Second, even though the surface area of that black aluminum is greater then individual ramsinks will provide, I have a feeling that these ramsinks will still do a better job with some direct airflow, because that aluminum heatsink on the ram ATM just doesn't feel like it has much to it.

** Thirdly (this is where it gets interesting) I plan to replace the stock cooler with a rather extravagent, MUCH more capable heatsink.....the Thermalright SLK947U.....coupled with a 36cfm TMD fan by YSTech.

Now you might be asking yourself how in the world am I going to get that thing on there....well....I've got a fairly good idea. Seeing as the SLK weighs in at just short of 600g I am going to be making use of the existing brace on the back of the video card. Measured out, the holes on the back brace are exactly 55mm apart.....and luckily, the SLK is about 59mm wide on its smallest side. What I'm thinking of doing here is getting some longer screws (the same thread as the ones being use to secure the backplate ATM) then what are included with the card, and drilling 4 holes up through the base of the SLK.....allowing me to bolt the cooler onto the card, and have a form of stability already present with the stock backplate brace on the card.

I had originally considered going with an SP94 to make use of its heatpipe design.....but I'm afraid that drilling through the base of it may "puncture" one of the pipes, and I'm not sure if it's worth taking the chance.

Once I can find some screws and a drill bit the right size this shouldn't actually be too much of a chore.....I just have to make sure that the screws will make it through the SLK's copper base AND through the backplate on the card.

Considering that all the card is toting out of the box is a little blower fan and a flimsy aluminum heatsink, I've got a funny feeling that these mods are going to do great things for my temps and overclock.

For active cooling on the copper ramsinks I already have a Vantec Spectrum Fancard in place that is long enough that it is blowing on all 8 ram chips.....and at 40cfm it'll do a fairly nice job at helping out those copper 'sinks.

I'm actually measuring things out right now, and with a combined height of 60mm (the 45mm tall SLK and the 15mm TMD fan) the new cooler will be a bit to large for me to keep my Sound Blaster Audigy2 in place. Because this mods is (hopefully) going to be doing great things for my card (not to mention that it's gonna look damn cool) I'd be willing to move to onboard audio, because my Fancard will have to occupy my very bottom PCI slot to fit under the SLK setup, and still provide active cooling for those ramsinks.

To top it all off, I've already got a 120mm aluminum fan mounted on my side panel that will be blowing 85cfm onto the side of the SLK, feeding cool 20C air to the TMD fan, and half of the ramsinks.....further aiding in the cooling of my card.

If anyone has any questions or comments about what I'm proposing to do here please let me know. I'm not sure EXACTLY when I'll be able to make the purchases (it'll actually only be a $120 order in the end) on the HSF combo and ramsinks, but I'm hoping to get it done soon enough to have the mods completed for a LAN I'm attending on the 17th of September.....and hopefully get featured on the front page of [H]. :cool:
 
aww....none of my [H]ard buddies think it'll be as cool as I think it will? :(

Heh.....I'll show you all.....this is going to be one [H]ardcore mod though, I can't wait. :D :cool:
 
Yeah thats pretty badass, cant wait to see the overclock you get with it.
 
holy tap dancing crist ur going to have a 30 pound 6800 gt that takes up almost ur whole pc

why not jsut get the dd nv-68 block and wc that biatch
 
complex said:
holy tap dancing crist ur going to have a 30 pound 6800 gt that takes up almost ur whole pc

why not jsut get the dd nv-68 block and wc that biatch
Click to expand...

Well technically, if you include the Vantec Fancard and the empty slot I'm leaving in between it and the cooler.....I will not have a single PCI slot available....you COULD say its a 5 slot cooling setup. ;)

I'm not going water cooling QUITE yet.....cus when I do I'm gonna be spending probly over $500 CDN gettin' it done RIGHT....and makin' it look good in the process.....and that DD 6800 block is NICE....but its listed on their site at like $120 USD.....which IS quite a lot.....but i want the thing....BAD.

I'll be sure to get pics up as soon as I can.....as I'll be ordering the parts for SURE in just under 2 weeks from now....hopefully sooner.

Considering my Inno3d card with my 120mm intake on the panel and my Fancard idle's at like 51C and tops out at 71C I'll be VERY anctious to see what it'll do with a high quality copper block like the SLK strapped to it.....not to mention the direct "attention" of the TMD fan.

One thing is for sure, its gonna look badass.....like, one of those custom cooling jobs that you actually say "Holy Shit" when you see. :cool:
 
i killed 2 GF-4's with a crappy waterblock mounting, isent that heatsink going to maul the board under its massive weight? even with the brace on the backside that is still a damn heavy heatsink to support through the agp slot / tail bracket

definately post picks though that will be one crazy mod when its done
 
i've got a 4-slot solution on my 9000 pro... it involves an athlon cooler intended for a 60mm fan with an 80mm fan bolted to it. it works OK, but the card itself is damaged (lapped the core a bit too far - oops - and flexed it a few too many times) so it artifacts even under stock in ATITool. but it works nonetheless.

ima have to go to a copper one if i get a better video card, though. Al isn't gonna cut it.

you may want to rig up something that supports the end of the card (the corner furthest from support especially) so it doesn't flex. a chain from the top of the case would work great for that, especially if there is a hole in the corner of the card there (that'd make it easier, anyway)

good luck!
 
Thx guys......its good to know I've got ppl waiting on me......keeps me going.

I agree that even with the backplate it'll be a LOT of weight on the card. My mobo does have an AGP lock on it, along with being screwed into the case....that's about as far as i can secure it in terms of that.

I might be able to think of some ghetto looking support for it from underneath.....but i might just check it out and leave it sittin' in the slot....jsut so ppl come up and say "Holy Shit" cus they think it's gonna fall. ;)

This is DEFinitely something that I WILL be taking out of my comp when i take it to LAN's though....you can bet your ass on that. :p
 
Not that any of what I'm about to say has a chance of working, but how about a Zalman CNPS-7000B Al-Cu heat sink with a custom fan instead of the stock Zalman one? I bet that would take up less space and do the business. And it only weighs 450 g!

I have a funny feeling that its screw points might be pretty close to the holes on your card too (you get a choice of 2 out of 4 holes).
 
tamislan said:
Not that any of what I'm about to say has a chance of working, but how about a Zalman CNPS-7000B Al-Cu heat sink with a custom fan instead of the stock Zalman one? I bet that would take up less space and do the business. And it only weighs 450 g!

I have a funny feeling that its screw points might be pretty close to the holes on your card too (you get a choice of 2 out of 4 holes).
Click to expand...

I dunno....I want the best I can get.....and the only thing I'd consider over the SLK is Thermalrights SP94....but i think i might drill through a heatpipe when I'm making the holes.

Thanks for your input....but I'm sticking with the SLK.
 
Hmmm... bump for a progress check? Did you get back on your meds and scrap the idea? I sure hope not. I wanna see it! :D
 
Gundamit said:
Hmmm... bump for a progress check? Did you get back on your meds and scrap the idea? I sure hope not. I wanna see it! :D
Click to expand...

I haven't scrapped the idea, but I'm not getting paid until this coming friday (the 3rd) and I'm gonna be picking up the IC7-MAX3 before the cooling mods are started because I'm going to gain FAR more overall from that board, no more artifacts from the AI7, and I'll actually be able to run my CPU and memory closer to their limits. At first I was aimed solely at doing these cooling mods to get my Aquamark3 over 70k, but now even with the AI7 I have modded my 6800GT's BIOS (raising the voltage) and I've already hit 69.5k.....sooo close. The regained bandwidth from the MAX3 combined with the further overclock on the processor will push me to 71k or 72k easily.....and THEN it'll be time for the cooling mods.

Depending on how things work out I might be able to sell my AI7 as soon as I get the MAX3, and then use the cash from the AI7 sale to buy the cooling mods.....that's a best case scenario. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you guys.....if anything the mods will be that much more interesting, because with the extra cooling the card should be able to handle 1.5v (its a bit too much for the little stock cooler) for an even higher OC then I previously thought....hopefully about 440MHz or so. :)
 
Ruiner said:
Just get a regular gpu waterblock and put ramsinks on.

or look here:
http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=10367
fancy custom vid card brace
Click to expand...

I like that brace a LOT......i might go register to PM the guy and see if he'd make me one ;)

The thing is that all my cooling mods are going to cost less then the DangerDen WB that I want.....which is listed at like $120 USD on their site.....all my mods are gonna be $125 CDN after tax/shipping.

Thx for the link though. :)
 
That doesn't look very hard, I might be able to get into the machine shop at school one day and do that, I'd like a higher clock on my GT as well.
 
There are a few problems with that. First of all, the core on the NV40 GPUs are exposed, so you will most certailnly crush the core with the heatsink. If you manage not to crush it, you're risking breaking the video card off the agp slot, when you lift the case or whatever. You should consider a lighter, aluminum heatsink at the very least. Try the new XP-90, it seems promising enough; and quite light. IT's kind of like the SP-9X, only in aluminum. Your approach isn't a very good one at best. Mouting will be a little screwed up, as the mounting holes won't align, and considering how close the top ram chips are on the 6800 cards; you probably won't be able to slap on any ramsinks on the chips close to the GPU.

What I would do, is buy an existing aftermarket cooler, and just modify it. I'd actually get an nvSilencer, and just mod it. I'd start by separating the GPU part from the RAM part just by cutting a gap in the copper plate using, oh I don't know; a Dremel :D?! Then I would proceed to hack the main heatsink part (which is a puny 32-fin aluminum assembly, and possibly cut off the top from a copper SLK cooler from Thermalright, and solder it there instead.this would be a little tricky, but certainly possible if you have a torch, Then I would do something with the cover to accomodate for the changes, and possibly slap on some aluminum heatinks on the RAM part of the copper plate (which I previously separated). These are just some wild ideas to play around with..

Then again, why go through all the trouble?? Just watercool instead, just as much fun to do, I bet. And you can still stick all kinds of crazy ramsinks on the.. RAM.
 
Koslov said:
post pics once you're done please :)
Click to expand...

For sure man.

I'll be getting the MAX3 in a week....and then I'll be selling my AI7 for about $90 CDN (retails at $150) afterwards.

The catch is that I'm gonna have to sell the AI7 in order to buy the cooling mods for my card. I'm fairly confident it'll work out....but if it doesn't I get paid again after tha in just under 3 weeks from today. I still wanna try and get it done pronto though....cus I wanted the mods for a LAN I'm going to on the 17th....and I get paid ON the 17th....so that wont work. ;)
 
Dude, I would keep the Audigy 2, since it's just so kickass, and either leave out the slotfan, since you apparently have plenty of airflow anyway, or just put it directly against the heatsink. That way, you get a closer fit to the HS for the fan, and can keep your totally awesome sound card.

Plus, some other people have made reference to the weight of the heatsink. Since the core IS exposed, you might have some trouble. It could be that you will want to build up the shim a bit so you can tighten it down without worrying about crushing the core, but you can still compress it with the screws so you get good contact with the thermal grease on the core. And, if you want to keep your sound card, you could always shave off the top 1/2" or so of the HS fins, and gain 1 PCI slot.

Maybe an NV silencer with another fan blowing air directly into the cooling port?
 
cornelious0_0** said:
Second, even though the surface area of that black aluminum is greater then individual ramsinks will provide, I have a feeling that these ramsinks will still do a better job with some direct airflow, because that aluminum heatsink on the ram ATM just doesn't feel like it has much to it.
Click to expand...
I haven't installed them yet, since I am waiting for my GPU waterblock and larger raddy, but I think these heatsinks are better for the larger ram chips on the 6800s. I have the sinks you mention on my 9500, but I think the Thermaltakes are better suited for your purpose, IMO.

1978a.gif
1978b.gif
 
[Tripod]MajorPayne said:
Dude, I would keep the Audigy 2, since it's just so kickass, and either leave out the slotfan, since you apparently have plenty of airflow anyway, or just put it directly against the heatsink. That way, you get a closer fit to the HS for the fan, and can keep your totally awesome sound card.

Plus, some other people have made reference to the weight of the heatsink. Since the core IS exposed, you might have some trouble. It could be that you will want to build up the shim a bit so you can tighten it down without worrying about crushing the core, but you can still compress it with the screws so you get good contact with the thermal grease on the core. And, if you want to keep your sound card, you could always shave off the top 1/2" or so of the HS fins, and gain 1 PCI slot.

Maybe an NV silencer with another fan blowing air directly into the cooling port?
Click to expand...

1) I do like the Audigy2, but if anything i might just wait and pick up an Audigy2 ZS later on.....that way my buddy with no soundcard gets something out of it, and I get a better card a couple weeks later.
2) The core is exposed, but i think you're thinking of this slightly backwards. I would not be tightening the SLK down any tighter then the stock cooler is.....and besides.....the weight from the cooler is going to be pulling AWAY from the core....not sitting ON it.....so I'll be fine.
3) I really dont feel like cutting off the top part of the SLK just to keep the soundcard.....cus then I might not be able to fit the TMD fan on there. There are two reasons I I almost NEED the TMD fan on there.....the Fancard's fans are on the ends of the card, and there would be nothing to blow ON the heatsink directly.....the Fancard is there for the ramsinks. The second reason is because while I do have the 120mm fan blowing 85cfm onto the cooler.....it would only be hitting the one fine on the side of the cooler.....essentially rendering the SLK's design useless.
4) The Nv Silencer was attractive at first.....but its still no more then a double height version of the heatsink already on my card. Also, I haven't measured anythign out, but having the Nv Silencer on the card would at the very least make it difficult for any airflow from my Fancard to hit the ramsinks....cus yeah, the Nv Silencer doesnt "do" memory cooling. :(

I'm still very set in my ways about this cooler.....once I actually have it installed I'll decide if i wanna move the fancard up one slot to fit an Audigy2 ZS underneath it....but I'm not worrying about the soundcard right now, just getting the cash in time to get the mods DONE.
 
uclajd said:
I haven't installed them yet, since I am waiting for my GPU waterblock and larger raddy, but I think these heatsinks are better for the larger ram chips on the 6800s. I have the sinks you mention on my 9500, but I think the Thermaltakes are better suited for your purpose, IMO.

1978a.gif
1978b.gif
Click to expand...

It's funny you bring those up, because they are eXACTLY the same ramsinks that came with my Hardcano II.....and they dont fit properly on the smaller BGA memory on these cards. The problem is that the ramsinks are not wide enough......leaving (quite noticeable) portions of the memory untouched....which is just no good. I've seen teh build quality of both ramsinks, and the OCZ are still a great deal nicer IMO.....the fins on the Tt are too small and stubby for me, i dunno....I just can't stand Tt....and there's no way that their ramsinks are going on my baby. ;)

Thx for the comments though.
 
uclajd said:
This is good to know. The search continues... ;)
Click to expand...

You don't wanna go with the OCZ ramsinks I linked to above?

There are also these Vantec ramsinks....but I still like the design of the OCZ more.
 
Guys, I just had a really good idea that might actually work out here in regards to the ramsinks going on my card. What if instead of buying those OCZ ramsinks and glueing them on I took the stock "L-shaped" peice of aluminum in somewhere and had a replacicate made out of copper? I could even have it raised up a bit to be that much more effective, once I measure out what kind of clearance I'll have with the SLK that is. I would have to call around to see how much it'd cost to have the block made.....but I think it'd be SO much more efficient then those smaller ramsinks.....I'd be getting WAY more surface area, and I could thread the factory screws into the block and attach it that way, instead of glueing the smaller ramsinks on.

What do you guys think? I realise it's gonna add to the weight of the card, but I'm working on something that'll help to rememdy that.

I'm gonna start calling around in the next day or so to see what I'd be looking at for labor charges (cus the copper itself should be fairly cheap) so I can decide if it's gonna be worth it. If money was no issue I'd definitely get the custom block made for the card, but if it's gonna be TOO expensive it might not be worth it.....not only that, but i might not be able to afford it along with my new mobo.

I'll keep you guys posted on news about the "memory block" as I find out.
 
Your links didnt work.

All I want is a heatsink that uses the same holes as the stock GPU for the 6800 GT. Does anyone know of such a heatsink?

I have a vantec PCI fan that blows enough air to drop my 6800 temps by 20c at load.
 
Jeez, that card is going to weigh 4 or 5 pounds once you get done with it. :)

No doubt, that copper will cool much better than the stock sinks. Good luck, and I wish I had the time/imagination/resources (pick one) that you do and could work on an awesome project like this. :D
 
you have some great ideas for 6800gt cooling, i want to see how this turns out :).
 
This is massive overkill. GPUs do NOT dissipate that much heat! Just get a good copper GPU/VRAM combo cooler with lots of THIN fins and some Arctic Silver 5 on every chip.

That massive thermalright cooler will most likely break your card. It's too heavy-- it would quite literally twist the card out of the AGP slot if not crack the PCB and ruin it .. or crush the core of the GPU. You'd get just as good a result with a nice, light GPU/VRAM waterblock and a fast pump.

Save time, effort, and a card and just get a good air or water cooler. Abandon trying to install a cooler that's too big for many MOTHERBOARDS.
 
I think you may get similar results if you just made a port of outside "cold" air to the intake
of the card's fan.
 
All I want is a heatsink that uses the same holes as the stock GPU for the 6800 GT. Does anyone know of such a heatsink?
Click to expand...

Other then the NVSilencer5......not really. It'd still be worth looking around, because some ppl are modding their Zalman heatpipe coolers to fit their 6800's....but in my eye's those setups aren't really suited for these cards.....I've just gotta SEE a little more cooling going on with high end hardware like this. ;)

Jeez, that card is going to weigh 4 or 5 pounds once you get done with it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's gonna be pretty fricken funny. :D

No doubt, that copper will cool much better than the stock sinks. Good luck, and I wish I had the time/imagination/resources (pick one) that you do and could work on an awesome project like this.
Click to expand...

Thx for the "thumbs up".....every little bit of encouragement always helps me along with some of this stuff. You wanna know what the funny thing is? I'm a 19 year old "kid" working 30 hours a week at minimum wage pulling shit like this off.....I still live at home which frees up a LOT of extra cash.....and I'm like 10 minutes away from my job....which means no expensive car. :D

you have some great ideas for 6800gt cooling, i want to see how this turns out
Click to expand...

Thx dude, I can hardly wait to get started on it too.

This is massive overkill...............
Click to expand...

How does that old saying go.....if you dont have anything good to say don't say anything at all??? This would be clasified as thread crapping dude, and a topic like this around here is REALLY not the thing you wanna be dumping on, especially when all your points are flawed. 1) It is NOT massive overkill, these things run VERY hot on max load.....and the more cooling the better, as lowering those crazy load temps closer to room temp will help my overclock. 2) I agree that the SLK is quite heavy....but you clearly do NOT have any faith in me here....you think I'm not aware of how heavy the thing is? Do you REALLY think it's gonna be that hard to rig up some kind of brace/support system at this point? Saying I'm gonna crack/twist/warp the card is just insulting.....and is why only SOME of us even attempt certain mods like this.....some ppl just aren't open minded and creative enough to make some of these things happen. 3) I could buy a good air cooler, but even the highest end GPU air cooler will NOT give results like what I'm going to get out of my custom job on the GT....not even close. I'm going to be looking at watercooling down the road, but not for a little while, at which time i WILL do up the GPU for the h2O.....but why does that mean I can't have fun now and show you guys what air cooling on these babies is REALLY capable of??? "Abandon trying to install a cooler that's too big for many OTHERBOARDS"......what the hell does that have anything do with it? I'm not talking about using it on my CPU dude, I'm talking GPU here......I guess you just dont have the right kind of mind to wrap around what I'm doing here....and it shows.

Please, no more posts like this, especially if every single point you're going to make is this easily dismissed.....its just not worth it dude, cus there's gonna be VERY few ppl on your side of the fence here on this topic.

no news corny?
Click to expand...

Well, there is....but you're not gonna like it.

As you all may know, I've been talking about a LAN I'm going to be attending in just 2 weeks from now quite a bit. I KNEW i was gonna put my new motherboard ahead of anything else on the list of priorities for my upgrades by the 17th....no matter what. What has happened is that I'm not gonna have enough to get these cooling mods AND the mobo both taken care of by the 17th.....so I had to make a choice. I'm still getting the mobo.....but it looks like I'm gonna have to "settle" for the NVSilencer for a couple weeks.....at least until I can afford to take the time/money to do these mods up right.....as it was just gonna be WAY to rushed to get it all done in time. This is actually kind of working out for the better though....I know a few of you wanted to see my SLK setup compared to temps from the NVSilencer....and now it looks like you'll be getting just that.

Don't worry, I'm not ditching this project.....far from it.....it's just being put on the backburner for a couple weeks. I get paid ON the 17th.....which is where the cash for the mods will be coming from. The thing is that I REALLY want to get a nice brace made up for the card and have that memory block done up custom....and it's gonna take to much time to squeeze everything in in the next 2 weeks.

So yeah, I'll still keep you guys posted when I get the NVSilencer installed.....but I just wanted to stop in and let you all know what's going on.

Dont worry, your crazy old bud corny is still gonna have the biggest, baddest 6800GT air cooling setup you've ever seen.....but I wanna get it done up right for all to see, which means putting a bit more time/money into the work.
 
It's thread crapping for him to say that he doesnt think this will work well and that you might be in danger of breaking components? I'd call that advice...

I think its cool that you are looking for a different way of doing it... variety is the spice of life... but I think he might have a point about this sink being too large ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top